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HOYNE TO START CRIMINAL PROSECUTION
AGAINST RICH PEOPLE WHO DODGE TAXES
Undervalued loop property, includ
ing stores on State street, are aimed
at in the new taxdodging campaign
outlined by State's Attorney Hoyne,
which promises to be one of the most
sensational crusades ever started.
Hoyne is disgusted with merely im
posing cheap fines for failure to file
schedules and has determined to in
voke the criminal statutes.
From now on all flagrant taxdodg
ers will be prosecuted for conspiracy.
In the County Court today Ass't
State's Att'ys Berger and Bell will
start the serious work by filing blan
ket informations against several
wealthy men. If Hoyne is successful
in his campaign millions of dollars of
unpaid, taxes will be restored to the
city.
Those found guilty of the charges
contained in the information may be
fined $5,000 and imprisoned not to
exceed a period of two years in the
penitentiary or in the county jaif.
The blanket information charges
conspiracy to defraud the city, county
and state out of $50,000,000 of taxes,
covering a period dating back about
two years.
Hoyne and his, assistants exposed
some of the taxdodgers' methods yes
terday. The two principal ways are:
1. Avoiding legal tax payments
by refusal to file personal property
schedules and letting the Board of
Assessors fix a nominal assessment,
usually upon the basis of an under
valuation. 2. Dodging tax payment entirely
by the exertion of political or other
influence and having chedules mark
ed "no assessment."
One'of the most startling facts un
covered by the state's attorney's of
fice bears upon the existence of a
ring of high-priced corporation law
yers who have been shielding the
wealthy taxdodgers for years.
"The inquiry will be a sweeping
one," said Ass't State's Att'y BelL
"We have directed our investigation
into the operation of a certain tax
dodging machine which has worked
for years with a perfect system.
"Associated with the ring of tax
dodgers we have found a coterie of
lawyers who will not be beyond the
reach of the same conspiracy clause
of the criminal code under which we
shall bring our prosecutions.
"The result of taxdodging in Cook
county has been the escape from tax
ation by large property holders at the
expense of the small payer, who was
compelled to bear the burden of high
er rates, created automatically as the
men higher up failed to schedule
their properties.
"A conservative estimate of the
amount of tax money which has been
thus diverted from the county, I
should say, would be more than $20,
000,000 for each year during the last
ten years. The $50,000,000 sought to
be recovered in the information filed
yesterday represented taxes dodged
for about two years.
Undervalued property which Hoyne
hopes to force legitimate taxes on:
Real Property.
1 Railroads. Property not on
right-of-way.
2 Banks.
3 Loop property. Office build
ings, department stores and other
property.
4 Corporations with large hold
ings. 5 Individuals with large holdings.
Personal Property.
1 Corporations. Capital stock,
merchandise, fixtures and credits.
2 Firms. Merchandise, fixtures
and credits.
3 Individuals. Mortgages, stock
in foreign corporations, notes and se
curities, bonds and other personal
property.
Property Escaping Entirely. l
Another list of property which has
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